The final decision of the Board of Inquiry on Plan Change 6 & RWSS is not only welcome, but also not surprising. It was no surprise that the position taken by Andrew Pearce, Chairman of HBRIC, that customers of the RWSS had the right to pollute the Tukituki has proved to be totally incorrect.

The BOI has made it quite clear that RWSS customers are to be treated the same as every other farmer. They are required to be part of any plan to meet the 0.8 DIN limit. It was illogical to imagine that the BOI intended otherwise. Well done to them for making this clear.

This puts HBRIC into a compromised position. Since day one Andrew Newman has intimated that without the right to pollute the RWSS would be unlikely to go ahead. Is this the death knell for the dam? Where does that leave us now?